Resources Archives - Page 134 of 149

New Book: Eilat Mazar, The Palace of King David

The first preliminary report of Eilat Mazar’s excavations of the City of David is provocatively entitled, The Palace of King David. The cover art shows an artist’s reconstruction of the palace, based on far more than what Mazar has excavated in her first three seasons. The 100-page work is subtitled Excavations at the Summit of the City of David: Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005-2007, and it is to be published by Shoham Academic Research and Publication in 2009. Eisenbrauns has it available for pre-order for $22.50.

The publisher’s description is as follows:

The preliminary report of the excavations at the top of the City of David hill in 2005-2007 summarizes the main findings from the Chalcolithic (the 5th millenium [sic] BCE) through the early Islamic (the 11th century CE) periods and presents initial conclusions of great importance to the study of the ancient history of Jerusalem.

UPDATE (8/10): The book is now shipping.

Tagged Jerusalem, Resources

Qumran Virtual Model

A fantastic resource is newly available for those studying or teaching about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

You may remember the virtual model of the Temple Mount that UCLA created some years ago. You can tour this by special arrangement at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem or at the UCLA
Visualization Portal. Their latest project is a virtual model of Qumran, home to the Essenes whose library is now famous.

A realtime virtual tour is not yet available online, but UCLA has produced about 50 still shots (ideal for PowerPoint), and eight videos, either in HD or on YouTube.

It is resources like these which pose serious threats to any students’ attempts to catch up on sleep during class.

HT: Ferrell Jenkins

Tagged Dead Sea, Resources

New DVD: Jericho Unearthed

Expedition Bible has just released a new DVD entitled “Jericho Unearthed.” Filmed on location, the video features interviews with archaeologists who argue for and against the site’s destruction by the Israelites as described in the book of Joshua. From the website:

The battle of Jericho is one of the most enduring biblical stories. The description of the “walls falling down” is among its most well-known accounts. Yet, the most famous excavation of this ancient site, carried out in the 1950’s under the direction of Kathleen Kenyon, claims that there wasn’t even a city at Jericho—much less city walls—at the time when Joshua supposedly conquered it. What are the implications of the battle of Jericho being disproven? Wouldn’t the Bible be demonstrated untrustworthy? Couldn’t it be argued that the Jewish people have no more right to the land of Israel than anyone else? The implications really are staggering! For more than fifty years scholars have built a wall of doubt against the historical accuracy of the Bible using Jericho as one of its cornerstones. It’s time to face those challenges head on! It’s time to determine whether or not the conclusions of modern scholarship stand in light of the evidence or if those arguments don’t in fact collapse like Jericho’s walls.

You can view the trailer here, or order the DVD from Amazon for $7. I haven’t seen the video itself, but based upon the previous work of Expedition Bible, I would expect that this is the best resource available on the subject.

Tagged Excavations, Resources

Great Deal: Context of Scripture, 3 volumes

The best reference for ancient Near Eastern texts related to the Bible is the The Context of Scripture, edited by Hallo and Younger. This three-volume work is superior to Pritchard’s ANET in many ways. Unfortunately, it is published by Brill and thus is very expensive.

Eisenbrauns has an outstanding deal on the complete set in paperback. Instead of $310, it is available this weekend only for $124 (plus shipping).

If you miss the sale, each volume is available at Amazon for $200-300 each (1, 2, 3). Or you can get the set in Libronix (electronic) format for $299.95.

If anyone has volume 1 in hardback and wants to sell or trade, send me an email (tbolen91 at bibleplaces dot com).

Tagged Resources

Weekend Roundup (5/26/09)

Logos is set to release a new product entitled “1,000 Bible Images.” The projected ship date is June 2, which means that the pre-publication price of $20 will soon expire. From the screenshots, it appears that the illustrations are all black-and-white line drawings. The collection’s description begins:

Now you can literally see the people, places, and events of the Bible text—right in front of your eyes! Bring your study of the Bible to life with this collection of 1,000 images, drawings, and illustrations—all produced by professional artists under the supervision of biblical scholars, in association with the German Bible Society. This vivid artwork shows the biblical sites, religious objects, plants and animals, archaeological findings, scenes from daily life in the Bible, and much more! As reliable documentation of biblical life, these images often give a better illustration and explanation than the text itself can give.

If you’ve ever considered a trip to Israel with young children, this NY Times article provides some ideas for what to do. Depending on the length of your visit and where you call home, I would make a few more suggestions: Hai Bar Animal Reserve, Timna Park with the Tabernacle Model, snorkeling in Eilat, the Armored Corps Museum at Latrun, Mini-Israel, a canoe ride on the Jordan River, a beach on the Mediterranean such as Ashkelon, and yes, Yad VaShem.

Hiking in the Judean wilderness can be great fun, but if you do it, take all precautions. Every year someone loses their life, and this weekend it was a 22-year-old hiking all alone.

Tagged Resources, Tourism

For Biblical Maps, Start Here

By “here,” I mean Mark Vitalis Hoffman’s excellent summary of “Digital Resources for Biblical Mapping.” Mark has done a fantastic job in the last couple of years of helping Bible teachers with electronic resources. You can stay up-to-date with the latest fruits of his labor at his blog, Biblical Studies and Technological Tools.

Mark has a variety of resources from his website Scroll and Screen (including a roundup of resource for biblical photos), and your favorite section will probably depend upon your particular interest, but truly outstanding and unique (as far as I know) is the listing of maps related to the biblical world. As you’ll see, there is no “one-size-fits all” for biblical maps (as there is, ahem, for biblical photos), and that’s what makes such an annotated survey so very helpful. Enjoy, and if you have feedback from your experience with these resources, I’m sure that Mark would be happy to hear it.

Tagged Resources